By Manny Fernandez

August 19, 2026

Using FortiExtender as a Terminal Server

This post was take from a document I created for a customer.

In my lab, I used a FEX200F which does not have a cellular connection.  It is five ports, can be a switch, separate connections.  It has a USB A port and a RJ45 console port.

By logging into FortiCloud, I can pre-configure FEX’s via a profile.  When the FEX connects to the Internet, in my case a copper connection to a AT&T or Comcast modem, but 5G using the cellular FEX platforms, it will check in with FortiCloud, download the profile, and apply the config.

Now you can connect FortiCloud by browsing to:

Once logged-in, you can launch your FortiExtender Console and you will see all of your FEX’s.  You can group them as well.

In the figure above, we can see the following:

  1. These are the controls of the FEX itself. In can reboot them, get console access to them, upgrade them, etc.
  2. Gives me the Status and the S/N of the FEX we are working with.
  3. Tells me the online status, the state, and other useful information. This dashboard contains additional information such as group, work mode, ports, firmware, etc.

There is very detailed information on this portal, too much to cover in this in this article.

Now lets look at the following screenshot.  It shows us the OBM button that launches the console connections.

In figure below, we can see that I have 4 USB to RJ45 cables attached.  You can select anyone….

 

 

 

Recent posts

  • If you've spent any time configuring user authentication on... Full Story

  • DNS is one of those technologies that quietly underpins... Full Story

  • BGP issues on FortiGate firewalls usually trace back to... Full Story

  • Every time your laptop talks to your router, a... Full Story

  • If you've spent any time configuring NAT on a... Full Story

  • If you have spent any time configuring firewall policies... Full Story

  • High availability on FortiGate is one of those features... Full Story

  • If you've configured SD-WAN on a FortiGate, you've almost... Full Story

  • FortiLink is the management protocol that turns a FortiSwitch... Full Story

  • FortiSwitches are pretty rock solid from Mean Time Between... Full Story

  • This is a quicky tip.  Have you ever gone... Full Story

  • DNS is one of those quiet pieces of internet... Full Story

  • This article is an updated version of the previous... Full Story

  • You will add ns2 as a secondary (slave) BIND9... Full Story

  • In the process of deploying my lab, I needed... Full Story

  • RFC 8805, used to be known as Self-Correcting IP... Full Story

  • Years back, I wrote an article about certificate pinning. ... Full Story

  • FortiGates have the ability to send alerts to Microsoft... Full Story

  • In this post, I am going to walk through... Full Story

  • Troubleshooting VoIP on a FortiGate can feel like trying... Full Story

  • Prior to FortiOS 7.0, there were three commands to... Full Story

  • In this post, I am going to go over... Full Story

  • What we are going to do:  We are going... Full Story

  • Choosing between FGCP (FortiGate Clustering Protocol) and FGSP (FortiGate... Full Story

  • Creating a VLAN on macOS (The "Pro" Move) A... Full Story

  • This blog post explores the logic behind how macOS... Full Story

  • Pretty Fly for a Wi-Fi Tell My Wi-Fi Love... Full Story

  • Part of my daily gig is creating BoMs (Bill-of-Materials)... Full Story

  • ICMP introduces several security risks, but careful filtering, rate... Full Story

  • The command diag debug application dhcps -1 enables full... Full Story

  • In the world of FortiOS, execute tac report is... Full Story

  • LLDP; What is it The Link Layer Discovery Protocol... Full Story

  • What it actually does When you run diagnose fdsm... Full Story

  • Monkey Bites are bite-sized, high-impact security insights designed for... Full Story

  • I have run macOS in macOS with Parallels but... Full Story

  • Don't be confused with my other FortiNAC posts where... Full Story

  • This is the third session in a multi-part article... Full Story

  • Today I was configuring key-based authentication on a FortiGate... Full Story

  • Netcat, often called the "Swiss Army knife" of networking,... Full Story

  • At its core, IEEE 802.1X is a network layer... Full Story

  • In case you did not see the previous FortiNAC... Full Story

  • This is our 5th session where we are going... Full Story

  • Now that we have Wireshark installed and somewhat configured,... Full Story

  • The Philosophy of Packet Analysis Troubleshooting isn't about looking... Full Story

  • This post was take from a document I created... Full Story

  • Executive Summary This guide deploys a FortiExtender 511G (FEX-511G)... Full Story

  • I had a customer over the weekend that has... Full Story